1. Gio Gonzalez looked like he was about to get out of the first inning unscathed, but the Yankees mounted a two out rally. Mark Teixeira roped a double down the left field line, then Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano followed with two consecutive walks. Up next, Jorge Posada grounded a ball to first that hit Daric Barton in the chest. The ball fell to the ground in plenty of time for Barton to scoop it up and run to first but he couldn't convert the play as Mark Teixeira came around to score and the inning was extended. So obviously, the play was scored a... base hit for Posada.While Posada's single was somewhat cheap, Nick Swisher followed it with a clean, two-run base knock, scoring A-Rod and Cano and putting the Yanks ahead 3-0.
2. After retiring Jeter to begin the 5th, Gonzalez issued two more walks to Johnson and Teixeira. That was the end of his night as Bob Geren called on Craig Breslow to face A-Rod. Breslow laid an 88 mph, 2-1 fastball down the middle and A-Rod absolutely hammered it to left-center to make it 6-0 Yanks.
3. Javier Vazquez allowed a home run to Travis Buck to lead off the 5th inning and another two run shot to Kurt Suzuki in the 6th. He was replaced by Boone Logan with the Yanks leading 6-3.
4. Old friend Edwar Ramirez pitched the top of the 7th, loaded the bases with three walks but managed to escape the inning after allowing only one run. 7-3 Bombers.
5. Logan got into some trouble for the Yanks in the bottom half of the inning, loading the bases on an infield single, a clean base hit and a borderline walk. Joba Chamberlain came in and struck out Kevin Kouzmanoff to end the inning.
Joba came back to pitch the 8th inning and sat the A's down in order with two K's and a weak grounder to first. Damaso Marte started the 9th but Joe Girardi called on Mariano Rivera after a 5 pitch walk to Jake Fox. Mo got a strike out and a double play, ballgame over, Yanks win 7-3.
IFs, ANDs & BUTs
- Vazquez worked in and out of trouble in the 2nd. He allowed a single to Kurt Suzuki and a double to Eric Chavez to start the inning. Javy got his first out when Mark Ellis chopped a ball down the third baseline and Suzuki, going on contact, was gunned down at home, putting runners on the corners with one out. Travis Buck obliged Vazquez with a double play, but an unconventional one. Buck lined it back to Vazquez, who tossed it to first to catch Mark Ellis to far off the base.
- Aside from the two long balls, Javy pitched pretty well. He threw more than 2/3 of his pitches for strikes and broke off some nasty sliders and curves, the likes of which we haven't seen in his previous outings this season. Both home runs came on fastballs, so he likely still needs some work in that department. Regardless, he's on the board with a pretty good start and a victory.
- Umpire Ed Rapuano had to leave the game after being hit with a foul tip. It appeared that he was okay at first but left the game under his own power a batter after it happened and was taken to a local hospital for a CT scan.
- The song choice last night was somewhat prophetic as the Yankees drew 10 walks, 5 of them against Gonzalez (4 of which came around to score).
- A-Rod and Robinson Cano(!!!) both drew three bases on balls.
- No Yankee had more than one hit.
- Joba touched 96 on the radar gun a couple times and his fastball sat in the mid-90's. This was one of his very good nights as he notched 3 K's in 1 1/3 perfect innings.
- A refreshing change from the series against Texas: no one made an error!
- The Yanks are now on a 5 game winning streak.
Posts
If memory serves, Javy didn't hit 90 on his fastball until the 3rd inning or so. What's up with that? Shouldn't he be hovering around 91 or 92? Also, do you know what his ratio of fastballs to changeups was last night?
ReplyDeleteMatt - You're right, Gameday had his fastball in the high 80's in the first and second and around 90 after that. I wouldn't get too concerned with velocity at this point in the season. It was only 50 degrees last night in Oakland and he might just need some time to build up his velocity. Most everyone is throwing a little slower than they normally do this time of year. Also, last year Javy had the WBC, and he's said that he feels a little behind schedule this time around.
ReplyDeleteYou can find the pitch type data here:
http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfx/index.php?month=4&day=20&year=2010&game=gid_2010_04_20_nyamlb_oakmlb_1/&pitchSel=134320&prevGame=gid_2010_04_20_nyamlb_oakmlb_1/&prevDate=420
It looks like he threw 46 fastballs and 19 changeups, give or take. Early on, game day was classifying 86 MPH pitches as changes and I'm guessing that's not right.
Vazquez is throwing significantly fewer sliders so far, opting to instead change speeds more often with the changeup and curve. Also, his fastball has been about 2mph short from last season. According to game day, only 40% of his fastballs were 90mph or higher.
ReplyDeletehttp://captnsblog.wordpress.com/
Roughly, Javy threw 51 fastballs (47%), 24 curves(23%), 19 changeups (18%)and 13 sliders (12%).
ReplyDeleteThanks, William.
ReplyDeleteGood recap, Jay. A-Rod's homer was mammoth, all the more impressive on a cool night. Javy was overall pretty good, and his snare of that hot liner for an inning-ending DP was big, given the early jam. Kudos to A-Rod--who has again played Gold Glove-caliber third base to start the year--making the bold and right choice to come home to get the first out, which also set up the DP. Heck, as Sterling rightly said, had there been no outs on that liner to Vazquez, he could have started a triple play considering how far off base the runners were.
ReplyDeleteWilliamnyy23's numbers are quite good and useful here. I wish Vazquez would throw a few more sliders for it can be a good K pitch for him. I am not too concerned about his velocity yet, either. It's early. I would, however, like him to be a bit more efficient, and I believe he threw 98 pitches through 5 last night (107 in all). All this came at a good time, with the off-day Monday and therefore a rested bullpen. He sure did take advantage of a relatively free-swinging team, getting 6 K's--which in turn boosts the pitch total.
I think that some of those 86 MPH pitches might have been sliders, or maybe he's taking a little off the fastball with a two-seamer. Just mulling as I enjoy a brisk, well-sugared mug of hazelnut fair trade java the morning after five straight in the books...
Thanks to the White Sox for taking down TB, too.